The Aiguilles du Diable (literally "Devil's Needles", german: Teufelsspitzen) are a group of five
rock needle
A pinnacle, tower, spire, needle or natural tower (german: Felsnadel, ''Felsturm'' or ''Felszinne'') in geology is an individual column of rock, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire.
Examples are ...
s, all over 4,000 metres high, on the southeast
arête (also called the ''Teufelsgrat'' or Devil's Ridge) of the
Mont Blanc du Tacul. The pinnacles lie within the French part of the
Mont Blanc Massif
The Mont Blanc massif (french: Massif du Mont-Blanc; it, Massiccio del Monte Bianco) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major indepen ...
in the
departement
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...
of
Haute-Savoie. The highest needle is ''L’Isolée'' (4,114 m), followed by ''Pointe Carmen'' (4,109 m), ''Pointe Médiane'' (4,097 m), ''Pointe Chaubert'' (4,074 m) and ''Corne du Diable'' (4,064 m).
The first needle to be climbed was Pointe Carmen in 1923 which was conquered by Brégault, Chevalier and De Lépiney. In 1925 the others were first climbed: initially L’Isolée by Antoine Blanchet and
Armand Charlet, then Corne du Diable and Pointe Chaubert by Armand Charlet and Jean Chaubert. The last to be ascended was Pointe Médiane by Antoine Blanchet, Jean Chaubert, Armand Charlet and Devouassoud. The first time all the needles were climbed in a single expedition was in 1928 by the Americans,
Miriam O'Brien and
Robert L. M. Underhill with Armand Charlet guiding them.
Today a crossing of the Aiguilles du Diable is usually done as a rock climbing tour, which, in summer, avoids almost any contact with snow. The overall difficulty is assessed as "difficult" on the SAC scale and
climbing grade
In rock climbing, mountaineering, and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a grade to a climbing route or boulder problem, intended to describe concisely the difficulty and danger of climbing it. Different types of climbing (such as spo ...
V+ on the
UIAA
The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA, lit. ''International Union of Alpine Clubs''), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France ...
scale.
See also
*
List of 4000 metre peaks of the Alps
This list tabulates all of the 82 official mountain summits of or more in height in the Alps, as defined by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA). All are located within France, Italy or Switzerland, and are often refer ...
References
{{Mont Blanc massif
Mountains of the Alps
Alpine four-thousanders
Mountains of Haute-Savoie